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Life in the British Colonies
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Vocabulary
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Appalachian Mountains
 New France |
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Key Concepts
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As people began to settle in the frontier,
the frontier moved farther and farther west. By the middle of the 1700s,
British fur traders had crossed the Appalachian Mountains
into the Ohio River Valley.
They moved into land that was claimed by both the British colonies
and France. France.
It stretched from the Appalachian Mountains in the east to the
Rocky Mountains in the west. And from the Great Lakes
in the north to the Gulf of Mexico in the south.
All of the Ohio River Valley
was not really part of LaSalle's claim. But gradually the French began to move into all of
the Ohio River Valley. Although the French had claimed a huge land area,
there were very few French farmers living in New France. Most
French men were fur traders. They traded
for furs with the American Indians.
The furs were then bought by French trading companies who sold them
in Europe. Many of the French fur traders had good relations with the
Indians for a long time. British fur traders began to move into
the Ohio River Valley
to take the fur business away from the French. To do this, the British
offered the Indians more goods, but for fewer furs. In time, the French
lost most of their fur trading business to the British. In 1753, British settlers began arriving
in the Ohio River Valley.
This upset the French. They began building a line of forts in
what is now western Pennsylvania. The French wanted to
protect their land from the British. The French and the British were
headed for a conflict. |
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The Ohio River Valley
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Ohio River
Ohio River Valley
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Additional Information
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